Heat-treating furnace



Feb. 2, 1932. yv, E'. BLYTHE 1,8433440 HEAT TREATING FURNAGE Filed Feb."i 1 950 INVENTOR TTORNEYS Pefenied Feb. v2, 1932 UNITED ys'ra'ras APar-1am OFFICE WILLIAM E. BLYTHE; or BIRMINGHAM; mcnIdAN, AssIeNon To DRIVER-HARRIS COMPANY, or nAnaIsoN, NEW msm, A CORPORATION HEAT-TBEA'rmG rua-NAcIsz Appneetien med February a1, Isso'. serial Ne. 4a'o,19s.

provide a furnace of the character indicated E in which the conveyor rolls are capable of withstanding the intense heat of the furnace without resorting to the use of wateror other cooling agent, and in which the shafts of the rolls may be made of small diameter so as to permit the rolls to be positioned with their axes in close roximity. l

Another ob]ect of the invention is to provide a novel and improved conveyor roll for Aa high temperature heat-treating furnace of the character indicated.

The several features of the invention whereby the above-mentioned and other objects may be attained, will be readily ,understood from the following description and accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a transverse sectional view,

partly in elevation, of a portion of a furnace embodying the features of my invention in their preferred form;

Fig. 2 is a detail sectional plan view taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig; 3 is a detail end view of the shaft of one of the rolls and its supportin bearing.

The furnace illustrated 1n the rawings is provided with a furnace chamber having side walls 2, a top wall 4, and a bottom wall 6, an conveyor ro ls extending transversely of the furnace chamber, each roll comprising a shaft 8 and Amaterial conveying disks 10 s ecured thereon.' The disks 10 of the'several rolls are arranged in staggered relation so as to permit each disk to extend into the spaces between adjacent diskseof adjacent rolls with the periphery of the disk positioned in close l5 proximity to the shafts of the-adjacent rolls.

In accordance with my invention, the ends of the shafts are supported on roller bearings '12 that are mounted in cradles 14 set into or secured in recesses 16 in the inner sides of the side walls of the furnace chamber, the

0F NEW JERSEY RElSSUED ends of veach shaft extending only a slight distance be ond the outer sides of the roller bearings. ne side wall of the furnace chamber is closed. The other side wall is provided with cylindrical openings 18 in substantial 55 alinement with the roll shafts 8. Each conveyor roll is driven by a drive shaft 20 that may be mounted in a suitable bearing on a supportmbracket 22 on the outside of the furnace. ach shaft 2O is arranged in axial 60 alinem'ent with the shaft 'of the associated conveyor -froll and is connected with th roll shaft by a suitable flexible coupling 24. As shown, this coupling consists of a collar or sleeve which is 'telescoped over the adjacent 65 ends of the associated drive shaft and roll shaft and is loosely connected therewith by bolts 26 arranged transversely of each other, and extended through apertures in the Acoupling sleeve and the ends of the shafts. The

conveyor roll' shafts may be made hollow, and saidshafts, couplings, conveyor disks and'roller bearings may be made of a suitable heat-resisting alloy. With this construction, it will beapparent that the shafts of the conveyorl rolls are of lminimum length and thus are capable of much more effectively withstanding the intense heat of thefurnace and the weight of the material .without sagging at their centers than is the case with rolls in which their shafts extend through apertures in the side walls andare supported in bearings outside `0f the furnace chamber as heretofore has been customary. Heretofore, it has been at- 35 d tempted to increase the strength ofthe shafts of conveyorrolls by increasing their diameters,-but this has not proven satisfactoryA for the reason that it is necessary for the shafts to be of as small diameter as possible in order .90 to permit them to be positioned with their` axes close together so as to allow the disks of the rolls to engage the material at closely spaced points.

The conveyor rolls are mounted in such 'a manner as to allow for expansion and contraction, vand close fitting of parts is unnec-v essa-ry.

Owing to the small size and weight of myl improved conveyor rolls they are `relatively D cheap to manufacture, andy yreqiire less power-to operate.

.As will be evident to those skilled in the art, my invention permits various modifications without departing from the spirit thereof or the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is: v

1. In a. heat-treating furnace of the class described, the combination of a furnace chamber having side walls, conveyor rolls extending between the side walls, bearings for the ends of said rolls mounted adjacent the inner sides of the side Walls, one of the side walls having an opening in alinement with each roll, andv means for driving said roll comprising a drive shaft, a bearing for the drive shaft arranged outside of the furnace, and coupling` means connecting one end of each roll with its drive shaft through the opening associated with the roll, said conveyor rolls and the bearings therefor being located entirely Within the furnace chamber.

WILLIAM E. BLYTHE.

2. In a heat-treating' furnace of the class described., the combination of a furnace chamber having-v side Walls, a. conveyor roll extending between the side Walls, bearings for the ends of said roll set into said side Walls, one of said side Walls having?,y an open` y ing in alinement with said roll, a drive shaft for the roll, and a exible coupling 'connectings,` one end of the drive shaft with one end of the roll` said end of the drive shaft eny tending into lsaid opening, andthe ends of said roll being` spaced inwardly from the outer sides of said side Walls, said conveyor rolls and the bearings therefor being located entirely Within the furnace chamber.

3. In a heat-treating; furnace of the class described, the combination of a furnace chamber having side Walls, conveyor rolls en tending between and located Wholly Within 4the side Walls, each roll comprising' a hollenv shaft and disks secured on the shaft in spaced relation with the disks ofthe several rolls arranged in staggered relation with .the periphery of each disk arranged in close` proximity to the peripheral surfaces of adjacent shafts, the inner sides of each of the side Walls being provided with recesses, roller bearings mounted in said recesses for supporting the ends of the shafts, one of said side walls being Closed, and the other side wall having openv ings in substantial a-linement with the shafts of the rolls, a drive shaft for each ofthe rolls extending into the opening; in alinement with the roll, and Hexible coupling means connecting the inner ends of said drive shaft and the adjacent ends of the'shafts of the rolls.

4.-. In a beat-treating furnace of the class described, the combination of al furnace chamber, conveyor rolls extending across the furnace chamber, means for supporting the rolls for rotarymovement comprising bearing rollers on which the conveyor rolls rest, 

